


Tripping, Freaking, Falling (Boys Like You)

by nazsaidit



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Halloween, Haunted Houses, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 00:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16483022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazsaidit/pseuds/nazsaidit
Summary: It's not that Auston is scared of haunted houses per se, but...A.k.a Mitch and Auston go to a haunted house, and everything's totally great! Really! For sure!





	Tripping, Freaking, Falling (Boys Like You)

**Author's Note:**

> Auston Matthews is a big soft scaredy cat who just wants to hold hands you guys. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. Set in some hand-wavey time this season. 
> 
> Title from Boys Like You by Who is Fancy.

Regret.

 

That’s all Auston could bring himself to feel, between the panic-induced pounding beats of his heart. Somewhere at the back of his mind he can hear his mother’s voice: _marry in haste, repent in leisure, Papi_.

 

Sure Auston, let’s go to a haunted house Auston, maybe _Mitch_ will get scared and hold _your_ hand Auston. Well. He glances down at where he thinks his hand is, twisted in the back of Mitch’s sweater, the darkness of the haunted house impeding his vision. Close enough.

 

There are _reasons_ he doesn’t go to many Halloween themed attractions, but when Mitch had asked, it took most of his self control to not blurt out an immediate “yes.” His mother was right, he thinks — a little hysterically — as the sound of ominous cackling gets nearer. One of these days his inability to deny Mitch anything will actually kill him. He was worried about saying yes too quickly when he should have been worried about saying yes instead of no.

 

It’s not that he’s scared of haunted houses per se, but between the jump scares and the sound effects making his anxiety levels skyrocket, he’s not having a great time. It could be better if he could actually see, his brain filling up with images of more and more (admittedly sort of ridiculous) things that could happen the longer they remain in the house.

 

“Hey,” Mitch whispers from in front of him. It makes Auston jump a little, even if he won’t admit it to anyone if asked. “You okay?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

He winces at the volume and the _squeakiness_ of his voice breaking for the first time since puberty punched him in the throat.

 

“Yeah,” he says again, softer. “Just, uhhh, hanging in there. How about you?”

 

 _Hanging in there?????_ He wants to kick himself for the stupidity of the comment. Or he could just possibly play it off as a pun on how he’s still clinging to the back of Mitch’s sweater? Maybe? Mitch has definitely noticed that he still hasn’t let go.

 

“I’m okay.” Mitch is definitely smiling, oh God, Auston is 90% sure he’s going to be chirped for the next century over this. “Just, uhhh, if you’re gonna keep hanging onto me, I think my hand is better than my sweater.”

 

If Auston could time travel, he’d go back before “just, uhhh” could escape his mouth and shut his own mouth forever. Actually, if he could time travel, he’d go back and say no when Mitch invited him to go to a haunted house together, the knife that is Mitch’s Face Of Sadness And/Or Disappointment twisting in his gut be damned. Then it hits him, that Mitch… Mitch just asked to hold his hand. Okay, so maybe he’s not a total mess. The plan worked. Sort of.

 

“Oh. No yeah, sure. I might ruin your sweater if i keep pulling it like that. Sorry.”

 

Suddenly Auston is grateful for the darkness, if only to hide the deep flush in his cheeks. It’s okay, he’s cool, he’s chill, he’s now holding the hand of the boy he’s half in love with, no big deal. He’s trying not to hold Mitch’s hand too tightly when Mitch loosens his grip. The rising disappointment is stifled when all Mitch does is change the positions of their hands to lace their fingers together.

 

Oh God.

 

Objectively it’s nothing special, just two people holding hands in the dark. It’s so they don’t get separated. Obviously.

 

“Hey,” he whispers to the vaguely Mitch-shaped outline in front of him. “What happens if we get separated?”

 

“Dude, we’re holding hands. And if by some miracle, we do get separated, we can just meet up at the exit, n.b.d.”

 

“Yeah, n.b.d.”

 

Mitch is still holding his hand. That’s. Wow. Auston knows that Mitch is pretty free with his physical affection but there’s a difference between “oh hey, we’re watching a movie, let’s cuddle because it’s cold” and this. And this? This is a lot to handle right now. Not the feelings for Mitch part, that’s something Auston’s been dealing with since that very first practice together. Knowing that you found the boy you want to spend the rest of your life when you’re just barely 19 wasn’t hard. The heart palpitations were a little inconvenient though. They’re getting worse now, with the hand holding and the fact that they’re still in the stupid fucking haunted house, which is sending his brain all these different signals each and every one telling him to panic. That’s what’s hard.

 

There’s a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye as they move along, the only warning he has before the wall lights up and there’s something jumping out at them. Auston can’t help the shriek he lets out, recoiling back while bringing his hands up to shield his face, not remembering until too late that he’s still holding Mitch’s hand. His other hand comes up too quickly, and he’s left standing there, hunched behind Mitch’s smaller frame, knowing that whoever is under the mask is going to forever remember this as The Night Auston Matthews Hit Himself In The Face While Hiding Behind Mitchell Marner.

 

“You still sure you’re okay?” Mitch teases. “I mean, I don’t think that people living in France heard you.”

 

Auston just rolls his eyes and squeezes past him and the actor in — _oh fuck that’s a lot of teeth_ — costume, trying to find the way out so he can escape with as much of his dignity intact as he can. He doesn’t let go of Mitch’s hand, pulling him along as they go, Mitch yelling a cheerful goodbye to the actor. Only once they leave does he let Mitch take the lead again, knowing he’d get them turned around and they’d be stuck forever.

 

“C’mon Aus, that’s probably not the worst thing they’ve seen here,” Mitch wheedles. “Trust me. There’s like. A whole thing about people who go to haunted houses to have sex.”

 

Oh great. Now he’s holding Mitch’s hand while thinking about sex in haunted houses. That’s fantastic. And clearly his brain-to-mouth filter isn’t working when he can’t immediately stifle the words that come out of his mouth.

 

“What, so you don’t wanna have sex with me here?”

 

Well fuck. There goes that cat out of the bag. Just about 3 years of not saying anything, and there it goes. He just spills an entire litter of kittens onto the floor of this house. Good fucking job there, Auston. You did it.

 

Mitch had gone quiet the entire time Auston was berating himself, which… was pretty nerve wracking. He isn’t generally a quiet person, not like Auston. Even when he’s listening, he makes noise to let you know he’s paying attention. So when he does turn silent, it’s worrying. Auston can’t stop biting his lip, trying to distract from the nausea building in his throat.

 

“Mitch?”

 

His voice is soft, barely even loud enough to be heard over the music whispering through the hidden speakers. He’s scared, he’s so fucking scared, and for once tonight it’s not from anything from the house.

 

“Shhhh,” Mitch flaps their still clasped hands at Auston’s general direction. “I’m trying to remember where the cameras are.”

 

And then he’s being dragged along, struggling to keep up even with Mitch’s shorter stride, their hands the only link between them.

 

“If I’m right, there’s a blind spot right around _here_.”

 

Here it comes. His back is up against a wall and he’s about to get punched where no one can see. Three years of friendship and it’s all over now because Auston just had to open his stupid fucking mouth instead of keeping everything locked up inside, you know, like he normally does, but also, hey, just like he normally does, it all has to escape eventually and —

 

Oh.

 

_Oh._

 

That’s definitely not a punch.

 

Mitch is kissing him.

 

And it’s not a dream.

 

_Oh God._

 

It’s the best thing that’s ever happened in his entire life. Mitch is kissing him, and he’s kissing him back, and there’s nothing in the world that could beat this feeling, not even winning the Cup. Well. Maybe except for winning the Cup with _Mitch_ . That sounds good, but right now, he’s finally kissing the boy of his dreams _and they’re still fucking holding hands_.

 

Alone there in the dark, the ominous music interspersed with the occasional cackling playing in the background, they finally separate. Nothing more than a few inches, keeping their foreheads pressed together, it’s almost peaceful. Almost.

 

Auston shudders out a breath.

 

“ _Fuck_.”

 

“Well,” Mitch starts. “Yeah, hopefully. Not here though. Oh man, do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do that? So fucking long, and you never even let on that you would be okay with this.”

 

“Are you kidding me? I was so fucking obvious!”

 

“ _You_ were obvious? Matty, who the fuck offers to cuddle someone in bed because _they’re cold_. This is why blankets were invented!”

 

Auston opens his mouth to retort but catches himself. So many things are coming together and making a lot more sense now.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, ‘oh’ you big dumb dumb.”

Auston chokes.

 

“‘ _Dumb dumb_ ’? _Really_?”

 

Mitch pecks him on the mouth softly.

 

“Okay how about… my dumb dumb.”

 

“Mitchy don’t you fucking dare. I love you, but I swear to God and all that is holy, I will never speak to you again.”

 

 _Oh fuck, not again. This is fine, Auston, just tell him everything, even that time you missed a shot because you got hard when he sent you a gorgeous pass across the ice_.

 

“You love me, huh?” Mitch sounds like he’s smiling, which is a relief, Mitch always smiles when Auston does something he likes.

 

“Yeah.Yeah, I fucking love you,” and wow. Getting something off your chest is a huge relief. Who knew?

 

“Well good. ‘Cause I love you too, so, you know, it’d be kinda awkward if you didn’t like. Yeah.”

 

"Yeah."

 

"So!" 

 

"So," Auston echoes. It seems like it's the only thing he can do at the moment, his brain still stuck on Mitch's  _I love you too_. Mitch laughs softly, Auston's broken brain clearly the highlight of his night.

 

"Let's get out of here? I dunno about you, but I would rather go home and make out with my boyfriend."

 

It takes a moment for Auston to realize that Mitch is  _nervous_. Which isn't fair. There's room for only one nervous wreck in this relationship, and Auston got there first.

 

"Yeah, let's go. I gotta get to my boyfriend's place so we can make out."

 

Mitch laughs again, delighted. The sound washes over Auston, filling him up until it feels like his heart is about to overflow.

 

They peel away from the wall ( _it's a shame no one else will know that's The Wall Where Mitchell Marner First Kissed Auston Matthews_ , he thinks) and walk out.

 

They're still fucking holding hands.

 

And it's wonderful.

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to get this in for Halloween proper, but uhhh, that didn't happen. I'd like to thank Leafs PR for that wonderful [video](https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1057709307100164096) that inspired this, plus shout out to [Nikki](https://arizonatotoronto.tumblr.com) for cheerleading and giving me the confidence to finish a fic for the first time since 2016. Find me on my newly minted [writing blog](https://nazsaidit.tumblr.com), or my [main](https://actuallysecretlygrantaire.tumblr.com), or even [Twitter](https://twitter.com/secretlygrandr) . And to anyone who celebrates it, I hope you have a wonderful Día de los Muertos.


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